My stupid as fuck trigger list and how I am slowly stopping to add to it.

Upon my last post I made on not making fun of emetophobia, I included my long, long extended list of triggers. People responded quite well to it and I’m still getting the odd note about it and am pleased that so many people liked it!

I think the reason that so many people related to it was the fact I included every stupid ass trigger I could think of and could phrase properly. For example: I couldn’t put down…

“exercising too much and getting really hot and sweaty and then drinking something and feeling it slosh in your belly and then you get stitch and the world ends asdfasdfghjgyugl;;’dfghhd etc”

or

“thinking about the fact the earth moves really fucking fast and then looking up and the sky and realising that the clouds are moving partially due to the earth’s rotation and feeling ever so slightly nauseated and thinking about the fact this always happens and so the feeling is inescapable and asdfghjkl;kkk etc” - you get the idea.

Since I wrote down that list, I’ve been thinking about why certain things are on my list and not on other people’s emetophobic trigger lists. Like, I can eat raw eggs. And do so, frequently, because they are yummy and fresh from my hens. I also really, really love sushi, most especially at Yo sushi with it’s system of taking things off the line when they’ve been out too long!

My hypothesis as to whether things make it to the list or not, is a combination of who/what initiated the idea of the trigger, what environment you were in when introduced to the possible new trigger and how you were feeling.

So the reason sushi isn’t a problem for me:

- I heard that sushi was a thing, that lots of people ate it all the time and it was nice.

- My friend, the man-chum and I all went to Yo Sushi after ice skating.

- Being in good company and having a confidence boost from the ice skating I decided to try it. Everyone was being so supportive and celebratory about the fact I was trying it.

- Thus, sushi is not a trigger.

And the reason that I’m triggered by, say, rice*:

- I was told in cookery class that rice contains listeria, and that if you re-heat rice it ‘wakes up’ the listeria.

- I was in class, surrounded by wankers.

- I was being shown a video about food poisoning so you could say I was a little on edge.

- Thus, to this day, I can’t eat rice without giving myself a pep talk before hand.

(*yes, I know there is rice in sushi, but it’s like sticky tiny type of rice, the texture is different and it looks different —- my phobia doesn’t have to make sense, shut up.)

So, as prevention is better than cure - “cure” being desensitisation, which as we all know is a giant bugger - if you are aware that…

- You’re being told something by an authority (i.e. the news, a documentary, a teacher, your parents, your good friends, people you trust etc.)

- You’re in an uncomfortable situation with little support (i.e. a class full of wankers, out and about on your own, with people you dislike/.don’t trust etc.)

- You’re feeling uncomfortable (i.e. you’re anxious, something has already triggered you, you’re being told by someone intimidating.) 

You can spot whether something is going to added to your list! Look back on the root of a trigger, even if it’s something as vague as ‘I heard on the news that such and such a food had a bug in it’ or ‘I remember a friend getting ill from…’ Just remember the source, the situation and the feelings at the time.

Alrighty, thanks for reading. Have a nice day n’ all that; maybe share your triggers that you think are stupid if you’re willing/brave, especially if you’ve gotten over them? :3